Published Articles
Bethany has published over 50 articles on dental ergonomics and musculoskeletal health of the dental professional. Some of these articles are available below in .pdf format. You will also find much of Bethany's article content in her research-based book, "Practice Dentistry Pain-Free: Evidence-based Strategies to Prevent Pain & Extend Your Career".
January 2012
RDH Magazine: "Positioning for Success: Essential Ergonomic Guidelines for Dental Hygienists." - B. Valachi
December 2011
Mentor Magazine: "10 Ergonomic Essentials for Dental Sales Reps." - B. Valachi
October 2011
Inside Dental Assisting: "Fighting Plaque With a Healthy Back. Musculoskeletal Health of the Dental Assistant." - B. Valachi
August 2011
Mentor Magazine:"Sitting Pretty: Today's Ergonomic Dental Stools." - B. Valachi
July 2011
ADA Professional Product Review: "Dental Loupes Q & A." - B. Valachi
May 2011
Dentistry Today:"Move to Improve Your Health: Research Versus Static Postures." - B. Valachi
March 2011
RDH Magazine: "Exercise Needs of Hygienists. How to Select Exercises That Benefit Your Health - Not Worsen It." - B. Valachi
September 2010
Dentistry Today: "Ergonomic Positioning: A Few Degrees Add Years to Your Career" - B. Valachi
March 2010
Dentistry Today:"Ergonomics: Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" - B. Valachi
October 2009
Dental Economics:"All the Wrong Moves: Three Movement Mistakes that lead to Pain" - B. Valachi
October 2009
Inside Dentistry:"Backrests, Armrests, No Rests: What Does the Research Say? - B. Valachi
July 2009
RDH Magazine:"Trapezius Myalgia: Making Hygiene a Pain in the Neck--or Head!" - B. Valachi
May 2009
Dental Economics:"Positioning for Success" - B. Valachi
April 2009
Dentistry Today: "Magnification in Dentistry: How Ergonomic Features Impact Your Health" - B. Valachi
March 2009
Dental Economics: "Delivery Systems: Which One is Right For You?" - B. Valachi
January 2009
Dental Economics: "Does your Operator Stool Trigger Low Back Pain?" - B. Valachi
November 2008
Dental Economics: "Ten Low-cost Strategies to Ergonomize Your Operatory" - B. Valachi
September 2008
Dentistry Today:"Operator Stools: How Selection and Adjustment Impact your Health" - B. Valachi
September 2008
Dental Economics: "Neck Health: The 3 Ergonomic Criteria for Loupes Selection"- B. Valachi
August 2008
Dental Practice Report: "Give It A Rest: Can Armrests Prevent Neck & Shoulder Pain?" - B. Valachi
July 2008
Woman Dentist Journal: "Preventing Pain in Dentistry: It's a S-T-R-E-T-C-H" - B. Valachi
July 2008
Dental Economics: "Trapezius Myalgia: Making Dentistry a pain in the Neck--and Head" - B. Valachi
April 2008
Dental CE Digest: "Ergonomics and Injury in the Dental Office" - B. Valachi
February 2008
California Dental Association Journal: "Musculoskeletal Health of the Woman Dentist: Distinctive Interventions for a Growing Population"- B. Valachi
January 2008
DentalCompare: "Ergonomic Must-Haves for the New Dental Office"- B. Valachi
March 2007
Dental Practice Report: "Dentists, Golf and Low Back Pain" - B. Valachi
January 2007
Dental Pratice Report: "Fitness for Dentists"- B. Valachi
October 2006
Modern Hygienist: "Chairside Stretching: Preventing Pain in Dental Hygiene" - B. Valachi
September 2006
Dental Practice Report: "Move It. 3 Strategies to move toward a Pain Free Practice" - B. Valachi
June 2006
Modern Hygienist: "Can Delivery Systems Deliver Pain?" - B. Valachi
May 2006
Dental Practice Report: "Pain Prevention: How to Ergonomize your Front Office" - B. Valachi
March/April 2006
Australian Dental Practice: "Balancing Your Musculoskeletal Health: Preventing & Managing Work-related Neck Pain" - B. Valachi
April 2006
Dental Practice Report: "Magnification: The Short Working Distance Epidemic" - B. Valachi
March 2006
Dental Practice Report: "Is it really Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?" - B. Valachi
February 2006
Modern Hygienist: "Moving Toward a Pain-Free Practice" - B. Valachi
January 2006
DentalCompare.com: "Selecting Patient Chairs: Ergonomic Considerations"
- B. Valachi
January 2006
Contemporary Oral Hygiene: "Operator Seating: Sizing It Up" - B. Valachi.
December 2005
Dental Practice Report: "Positioning Priorities: Top 10 things to look for in a patient chair." - B. Valachi
October 2005
Dental Practice Report: "Are Right Angles..Wrong?: What research says about operator seating" - B. Valachi
June 2005
Contemporary Oral Hygiene: "Taking Dental Ergonomics to a New Level: Avoiding the 10 Common Mistakes Dental Hygienists Make". - B Valachi. Hygienists may earn CEUs from this article.
May 2005
Dental Practice Report: "Special Exercise Needs of Dental Professionals: How to Select Exercises that Benefit Your Health--Not Worsen It!" - B Valachi.
January 2005
ADAA Home Study Course: "Ergonomics in Dental Assisting" - B Valachi. Home study course will be available through the ADAA in 2005.
January 2005
Dentistry Today Article: "Operator Seating: the Tall and Short of It" - B Valachi, K Valachi.
December 2004
Contemporary Oral Hygiene: "Managing Muscles: Neck and Shoulder Pain Among Dental Hygienists" - B Valachi. Hygienists may earn CEUs from this article.
September 2004
Burkhart Concepts: "The Prolific Hygienist: An ounce of prevention; a pound of productivity" - B Valachi.
May 2004
Doctorate Thesis: "The Effectiveness of the Posturedontics® Dental Ergonomics & Injury Prevention Program for Dental Hygienists in Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders" -Alexander L, Turnham L.
April 2004
Burkhart Concepts: "Magnification: "Dentistry Shouldn't be a Pain in the Neck" - B Valachi.
March 2004
RDH Magazine Article: "Chairside Stretching" - B Valachi.
December 2003
JADA (Journal of the American Dental Association): "Preventing musculoskeletal disorders in clinical dentistry. Strategies to address the mechanisms leading to MSDs"
October 2003
JADA (Journal of the American Dental Association): "Mechanisms leading to the development of MSDs in dentistry" (Part I of a two-part series). - B Valachi, K Valachi.
July 2003
Dimensions of Dental Hygiene: "Improving your Musucloskeletal Health" - B Valachi.
January 2003
Dental Products Report: "Position yourself in 2003: Trends in Exercise and Injury Prevention" (Part 2). - B Valachi, K Valachi.
November 2002
AGD PACE APPROVAL Posturedontics' seminars, consulting services and videos received PACE (Program Approval for Continuing Education) approval from the Academy of General Dentistry.
December 2002
Dental Products Report: "Position yourself in 2003: Trends in Ergonomics and Injury Prevention" (Part 1) - B Valachi, K Valachi.
Plagiarism of these Articles: Sadly the list is growing. The most frequent and recent incidents are in India.
- September 2010 - Plagiarism of both 2003 JADA Articles appeared on WedmedCentral.com. Read the article, "Dentists: Your Back Requires Back-Up Now!!!" -- plagiarized segments are highlighted in yellow. View the segments of the original JADA articles that were plagiarized. The website's developer was contacted and the article has been removed from the website.
- July/August 2011 - Plagiarism of both text AND images of the 2003 JADA article, "Preventing Musuloskeletal Disorders in Clinical Dentistry" appeared in the Dental Practice (South Asian) magazine (plagiarism highlighted). Three of 4 pages of this article are word-for-word from the 2003 JADA article! The editors of this magazine were contacted, and the online-version of the article was removed. However there has been no acknowledgement of the plagiarism incident in their printed magazine.
